Travelogue: The Netherlands - Amsterdam, The Hague

For plenty of reasons, both good and bad, Amsterdam is a popular attraction for any tourist coming to Europe. For young backpackers, this city is very excited thanks to the extravagant escapades described in the EuroTrip movie. Amsterdam has attracting events in small periods around the year. The Tulip Gardens are in bloom during spring and attract a huge crowd of photographers and nature lovers. The numerous parades during the remaining part of the year attract the relevant kind of crowds. As a city, Amsterdam doesnt have grandiose architectures or cathedrals on display. So people coming here after a visit to Rome or Florence would be disappointed by the very modern architecture. Personally I found the construction in Netherlands to be very modern and quite interesting in aesthetics. Driving around the cities you will see a lot of interesting looking buildings.

The Amstel river, from which the city derives its name runs around the southern part of the city. For seeing around the city, there are plenty of options - ferries ply on the canal area showing around some major attractions of the city, if you want to bike around the city there are some cheap deals on the bike tour of the city. There is a good metro running through the city as well as buses and trams. Each to his own taste! Since we were running short on time, we took a city tour on the ferries. Along the canal you can get to see some really old buildings of the city. One interesting feature of the buildings along the canal area is that they are very narrow in width. Sometimes such narrow that the whole house is split vertically, with drawing rooms on one floor, dinning on the other and bedrooms on yet another. Also all the buildings have a huge hook hanging from the top which is used to anchor the ropes to carry any furnitures above into the floors of the building. The actual reason most of the young crowd comes to Amsterdam is altogether a different one -though not a politically correct one in many parts of the world. The colored-district lined up along the canal jumps to life as the sun goes down. A glance at the crowds there, explains the empty streets in other parts of the city!

The Hague is the proxy capital of Netherlands. With around 100 consulates and embasies the city exudes diplomacy. The International Court of Justice attracts a large number of protesters apart from tourists. The city is well connected through trams running across its stretch. The Scheveningen on the northern part of the city is a popular attraction of the city. Windsurfing and Bungee jumping are some of the activities holding the young crowd on this beach facing the Nordsee.